


Bloom Later

by saucekays



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Haruno Sakura, But it's all right in the end, Crying, First Kiss, Gay Ally Sakura, Hanahaki Disease, Idiots in Love, Itachi ships SNS so hard, Kissing, Kurama is basically Naruto's emotional support fox demon, Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama & Uzumaki Naruto Friendship, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, POV Alternating, Protective Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama, Protective Uchiha Itachi, SNS are honestly such morons, Vomiting, because I love that shit, sun/moon imagery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:40:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25055602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saucekays/pseuds/saucekays
Summary: A little less than three years after Sasuke leaves Konoha, Naruto contracts Hanahaki disease.Love only motivates him more to find the boy he loves.A little less than a week after Itachi dies, Sasuke contracts Hanahaki disease.Love only drives him further into darkness.AKA Naruto and Sasuke spend their years apart pining for each other to a deadly extent. Hanahaki AU, angst with a happy ending. Title and chapter names taken from "Bloom Later" by Jesse. Posted for NaruSasu day 2020.
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 50
Kudos: 397





	1. Some Things Never Change (Even When They Hurt)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes on Hanahaki for the purposes of this fic: 
> 
> Hanahaki disease can develop when someone feels as if their love is unrequited, even if this is not necessarily true-- this is why both Sasuke and Naruto develop it as a result of their feelings for each other. I feel like this fits their relationship well, seeing as they both spend so many years thinking about each other yet never communicating properly. 
> 
> That's all!

The sun was blazing hot on Naruto’s skin. He’d done as much as he could to cool himself off; his hoodie and undershirt had long since been discarded, and later he had even tugged off his sandals. The ground was littered with tiny sharp stones, several of which had embedded themselves in the soles of Naruto’s feet, causing them to bleed in several places. But this pain was still preferable to the feeling of his feet boiling inside sweaty leather sandals.

Naruto wiped the sweat from his eyes and peered across the field. Unsurprisingly, Jiraiya was nowhere to be seen: just like every other day this week, the old pervert had dropped him off in this stony field at _ass_ o’clock in the morning with the sole instruction: “Practice here until I come back”. 

Naruto had whined and groaned a lot after the first such day-- _this is just an excuse for you to be lazy, Ero-sennin! Are you still refusing to actually teach me anything? --_ but he had become accustomed to this learning environment, and previous impatience had transformed itself into cold, hard determination. 

However, this determination currently seemed to be wavering; shimmering and hazy like the hot air surrounding Naruto’s body. Swiping an arm over his face yet again, he squinted and took another look across the plain. 

A shape swam into focus; there was a figure standing a short distance away. Briefly, hope surged through Naruto’s chest-- _am I done training for the day? --_ but before he could shout his mentor’s name, he realized the figure wasn’t tall enough to be the Sage. The figure appeared closer to his own height and, on closer inspection, had a head full of dark hair rather than snowy white. 

“Who are you?” Naruto called out, a hint of a challenge in his voice. He didn’t want anyone to interrupt his training, especially when it wasn’t going all that well! 

The figure didn’t answer, but the hazy air around him suddenly flashed red. 

Naruto realized the source of the hue was the figure’s eyes. A realization dawned on him, and his insides suddenly felt frozen even as his skin continued to burn and blister under the sun. 

“Sasuke?” he breathed, vaguely realizing the figure wouldn’t be able to hear him from where he was.

Once more, a bright red flicker pierced the air. Then the air shivered, and the figure was gone. 

_A heat mirage?_ Naruto wondered. The air felt more oppressive now, almost like it was choking him. His stomach felt like it was containing a block of ice, and suddenly Naruto’s head spun. Then he was on his knees, retching onto the stones. 

Naruto’s stomach clenched painfully, but little came up as he was dehydrated from the sun and had only eaten a small breakfast that morning. However, as Naruto slowly opened his eyes and pushed himself back on his heels with shaking arms, he noticed something strange sitting in the mouthful or two of bile. 

A flower petal. 

The petal was delicate, white with a pale yellow line running through its center. Naruto had never seen one quite like it. Confused, he looked around, trying to see where it might have come from. But there were no similar flowers nearby: in fact, there were hardly any plants growing in the surrounding barren soil at all. 

“It can’t have come from around here…” Naruto mused. _Maybe it was in my food? Jiraiya buys from sketchy places sometimes…_

“What can’t have come from around here?” 

Naruto turned sharply, exhaling in relief at the sight of his mentor’s familiar profile. “Ero-sennin!” he exclaimed. 

The Sage’s eyes were concerned, and focused on a point behind his student. “Are you alright?” he asked.

Naruto’s eyes widened and he whipped his head around. He realized the petal was no longer on the ground; a gust of wind had carried it into the sky. For some reason he was grateful Jiraiya hadn’t seen it. 

He scratched the back of his head, an embarrassed smile appearing on his face. “It’s nothing,” he said, keeping his voice light. “I was just in the sun for a little too long, that’s all. I can still train..” 

Naruto’s voice trailed off as he followed Jiraiya’s gaze from the puddle of vomit on the ground to Naruto’s ravaged feet, which were dripping blood at a fairly steady pace. 

The old Sage raised an eyebrow. 

Naruto laughed awkwardly. 

“We’re going back to the inn,” Jiraiya announced. 

Naruto didn’t bother arguing. Despite the motivation still running within him, he had to admit he felt pretty bad after throwing up. There was still a cold sheen of sweat covering every inch of his skin, and something inside him didn’t feel quite right.

_\---_

“It’s good to be home,” Naruto sighed contentedly as he walked along Konohagakure’s main shopping street. 

Training with his mentor had undoubtedly been rewarding, and Naruto felt stronger than ever. But Konoha, its lights welcoming and its ramen steaming, certainly had its charms. 

Taking in the sights and sounds of his hometown, Naruto continued his walk down the street until something in particular caught his eye. Except when he turned his head, trying to get a better look, he couldn’t tell what had caught his attention in the first place. 

As it turned out, Naruto was standing in front of a flower shop; the one owned by Ino’s family, the Yamanaka clan. An invitingly-lit window faced the street, displaying various flower arrangements, both seasonal and ceremonial. 

“I wonder if Ino’s in right now,” Naruto wondered aloud. Without hesitating, he pushed the shop’s door open and stepped inside. 

The shop was small, crammed into the front room of a standard-sized Konoha civilian townhouse. Flower arrangements stood on tables lining the edges of the room, while individual flowers in different tin buckets stood on a circular shelf in the middle. The counter was at the back of the shop, with taller plants standing behind it. 

“Hey, Naruto!” he was greeted. 

“Ino!” Naruto smiled as he recognized his friend. 

“I heard you just came back today, is that true? I would have come to say hi with everyone else, but I couldn’t get off my shift here earlier…” 

“Don’t worry about it, Ino! Yeah, I just got back from my trip with Ero-sennin today.” 

“Still calling him Ero-sennin… You’re definitely the same Naruto.” 

Naruto laughed, but his attention was suddenly drawn to something on the shelf in the middle of the room. 

“So did you stop by just to see me, or are you here to buy an ‘I’m back’ bouquet for a special someone?” Ino winked. 

Naruto didn’t respond. He just frowned and took a step closer to the shelf. 

“...Naruto?” Ino tried again. 

“What’s this flower called?” he suddenly asked, still frowning. 

“Which?” Ino wondered. She came around from behind the counter, standing next to Naruto. 

“That one,” he pointed.

On the center shelf, one of the buckets of flowers contained several cut vines. The leaves were heart-shaped, and several flowers bloomed along the length of each vine. The flowers were delicate, five-petaled shapes resembling a pale funnel. 

“Those? Oh, those are moonflowers. They’re very fashionable right now, people grow them in what they call ‘Moon gardens’. They’re a type of flower that blooms at night, so…”

Ino’s expert explanation trailed off as she noticed the thoughtful expression on Naruto’s face. “Why are you asking?” 

“I’m not sure,” Naruto replied. “I thought I… Well, nevermind. Thanks for your help, Ino!” 

With that, he was gone just as suddenly as he had arrived. Ino shook her head. “That Uzumaki Naruto…” 

Naruto felt strangely unsettled as he took to the streets of Konoha once again, no true destination in mind as of yet. _Something in Ino’s shop…_ he mused, wondering what had him so on edge. 

He continued to think as he let his feet wander, displaying an uncharacteristic amount of introspection. Still, it wasn’t as if there was anyone around to see him this way. Surely, if anyone were to have crossed paths with him at this point, Naruto would have conjured a smile onto his face, shaking himself loose from the thoughts playing through his mind as if they hadn’t been there to begin with. 

Eventually, Naruto looked up. His feet had taken him to a quiet part of town, with few streetlights and even fewer people. A large gate loomed before him, rusted and overgrown. 

Naruto squinted in the low light and realized he knew the symbol carved over the gate. A simple fan, a half moon on top with a longer shape beneath it. A symbol he had stared at every day for years, a symbol he had watched become smaller and smaller as it was borne far away from him, along with the one who wore it…

_Uchiha._

Naruto’s breath caught in his throat. He blinked, surprised at himself. 

“I’m gonna bring Sasuke home,” he announced quietly, to no one but the stone symbol in front of him. It felt strangely alive: Naruto could almost imagine the spirits of every Uchiha who had walked in and out of this gate in the past, could almost hope that they were hearing his vow and blessing him with their good will. 

A coughing fit suddenly overcame him, and he brought a hand up to his mouth. _Damn it,_ he thought, _did I stay out for too long? Am I catching a chill?_

Trying to hold back his coughs only made Naruto feel worse, and he panicked as he suddenly felt bile crawl up his throat. 

“What the hell,” he gasped, before dropping to his knees and throwing up into the grass by the side of the road.

Naruto’s eyes watered, and he wiped at them. Naruto swallowed, bracing himself for the disgusting aftertaste that was sure to follow, but was surprised when it wasn’t as bad as he was expecting. The taste in his mouth was actually rather… sweet. And not in a gross, vomit-y way either. 

Looking into the grass, Naruto saw two petals… Two _very familiar_ petals. 

“Moonflowers,” he whispered. 

Suddenly, he remembered the previous month, the slight sickness that he had assumed was heatstroke. The very same petal. 

Frowning, Naruto looked around the area but just like last time, there was no sign of the flower growing anywhere nearby. 

Concerned, Naruto took the short way home, leaping over Konoha’s rooftops under the moonlight. 

Once he was home, the young ninja let himself wonder as he made himself a makeshift dinner. _What’s happening to me? Where are the flowers coming from? Are they inside--_

Naruto’s breath halted in his throat, and he was barely able to continue the thought which had just occurred to him.

“If it’s something inside me…” he whispered. “Could _you_ be doing this?” 

Even without saying his name, even without explicitly referencing him, Naruto could feel the powerful presence inside him stirring to life, dragging his consciousness under and into that space: the space he knew to be inside him, yet felt like something completely foreign whenever he visited. 

A familiar sense of fear filled Naruto as he stood before the sealed gate. It was the same fear he felt every time he was forced to confront this _thing,_ but somehow even worse this time, as terrible suspicion was filling him rapidly.

“ _Kyuubi,”_ he meant to hiss, but the call came out harsh and trembling instead. 

A deep laugh, shaking Naruto’s bones and causing his hair to stand on end, was the only answer he received. 

_Surely that proves it,_ thought the Jinchūriki. _Surely there’s no point in asking him, all he’ll do is laugh and--_

Quelling these doubts with great effort, Naruto forced himself to address the demon fox again. 

“Did you do this?” 

A pause. Naruto could not see the fox’ form in the darkness behind the gate, but at length the Kyuubi opened his eyelids and two fiery irises were revealed, staring Naruto down and rooting him where he stood. 

_Do what?_ the fox asked, sounding as if he were suppressing a yawn. 

The fear previously flowing through Naruto’s veins was rapidly turning into something else-- the Kyuubi’s attitude was really starting to piss him off. 

“Look, Kyuubi. If you’re doing something _weird_ to me, I have a right to know about it. I should have figured you’d try something, after being stuck here for so long, but at least I have you figured out now. So stop being an asshole and just tell me what you’re up to, all right?” 

The accused fox blinked, and Naruto could have sworn something in his eyes changed-- well, not that it mattered. The Kyuubi was guilty, and Naruto was going to _make_ him own up to it, damn it all! 

Finally, the fox sighed, a sound that rattled the bars of the gate and Naruto’s teeth in his gums. 

_Boy. I know you’re not the most intelligent of creatures, but you should know better than anyone that I can’t do anything from inside this cage._

Naruto paused for a minute, then narrowed his eyes. 

“I don’t believe you.” 

The Kyuubi actually rolled his fiery eyes at that. 

_Idiot human._

Disregarding the insult, Naruto fired back. 

“How the hell do you explain the flowers, then?” 

_Flowers?_ the Kyuubi asked, the slight upturn of his voice the most expressive he had sounded since the conversation began. 

“Yes, the flowers,” Naruto grumbled. “They’re, like, inside me. I mean, I think they are, ‘cause I keep… puking them, and that means it must be your fault ‘cause you’re also inside me and this seems like the sort of weird shit you’d pull.” 

The following pause stretched longer than any previous ones, and Naruto began to shuffle his feet, causing ripples in the shallow liquid beneath him. 

_You’re coughing up flowers,_ intoned the voice finally, sounding monotone once again. 

“Yeah. Well, petals,” Naruto replied shortly. 

The Kyuubi huffed another deep sigh, then stood up and padded into view, standing right behind the gate. He towered over Naruto, even when he sank down into a sitting position. 

_I should have seen this coming,_ he said. 

“You… You what?” Naruto asked, grasping at any meaning he could find in that completely bizarre-sounding sentence. “What the hell are you talking about?” 

_Foolish boy. You know I can see your heart, don’t you? I can see everything through your eyes, hear every foolish thought, sense every emotion that runs through your veins. Obviously I try to tune out most of the time, it’s not as if I_ want _to know anything, but there are some things I can’t block out or ignore, no matter how much I wish I did._

Naruto frowned. “I still don’t know what you’re getting at.” 

_Have you not heard of hanahaki?_

“No… Stop speaking in riddles, damn it!” 

_It’s an affliction._

Naruto’s gaze suddenly turned sharp, meeting the Kyuubi’s fierce eyes with no hesitation or fear. “Like a disease?” 

_It causes one to cough up flowers._

“Are you trying to fool me?” asked Naruto, voice accusatory yet lacking the same vigour he usually carried. 

_You can find out more about it by yourself. But what matters most is that the disease will kill you._

Naruto’s anger and impatience was washed away by yet another cold wave of fear. “Kill… Me…?” he asked quietly. 

_Yes._

“Can’t… Can’t I get rid of it?” 

_It’s a human affliction. I don’t know. But…_ the fox hesitated. _I will use my chakra to keep you alive for longer than you would otherwise have._

Naruto’s brow furrowed. “I thought you were causing this… But you’re actually trying to help?” 

_Make no mistake, boy,_ the Kyuubi growled. _I’m not doing this out of any kindness. I’m doing this for my survival, and my survival alone._

Naruto was going to reply, but he felt his consciousness beginning to rise to the surface, coming back to reality once again.

\---

The Kyuubi’s power was certainly helping. 

Sure, he hadn’t become any nicer to share a body with: he wasn’t suddenly acting all friendly or helpful just because of the changes in Naruto’s circumstances. He hadn’t even said anything that horrible time Naruto found out the cause of hanahaki disease, when the boy had spent a sleepless night shaking and wondering and screaming internally towards the fox, asking _why didn’t you tell me? How did this happen,_ and eventually the most distressing question of them all, _do you know who it is?_

At this point, Naruto had no doubt that the Kyuubi knew _exactly_ who had caused this. _I can see everything through your eyes, hear every foolish thought, sense every emotion that runs through your veins._ The words uttered by the demon fox that one fateful night had stuck in his head, rattling around in his skull and calling attention to themselves at every opportunity. On multiple occasions, the Jinchūriki had attempted to question his companion, but the latter always ignored him. 

As such, Naruto managed to go over three months from the date of his second hanahaki episode before having another attack. This time, however, Naruto coughed up nearly a mouthful of moonflower petals rather than just one or two individual ones. This was cause for the Kyuubi to finally break his silence, angrily urging Naruto to _do some research before you get both of us killed with your stupidity._

All this led to Naruto visiting the Konoha library late one night after a mission with team 7. He searched for hours on his own, having already made up his mind months before that absolutely _no one_ was going to learn about his illness. He was either going to silently recover from this through his own work and willpower or not at all, the threat of death be damned. _I’ve been through worse_ , he muttered when the Kyuubi complained about this stubborn attitude. That actually succeeded in shutting the demon fox up, as the latter knew it very well to be true. 

In the library, Naruto finally succeeded in finding a book addressing hanahaki disease. After glancing around furtively, Naruto bent his head and read the page out loud inside his head, figuring the Kyuubi would probably be listening. 

_Hanahaki disease is often fatal, but there are two known cures. The first is an antidote of sorts: reversal of the disease’s cause. This entails that the unrequited feelings causing the illness become requited, or, in other words, the object of the patient’s love returns these feelings._

Naruto could have sworn he heard a derisive snort coming from the Kyuubi’s corner of his mind. 

_The second method is not an antidote, but an elimination of the symptoms. A skilled and specially licensed surgeon can remove the plant growing inside the patient’s lungs, hereby removing the obstruction of the lungs and effectively ensuring the patient is able to continue breathing, though scar tissue can cause eventual complications._

Naruto inhaled, relief filling him for a moment, before his eyes scanned the next part of the passage. 

_Besides the technical difficulty of the surgery, the main reason patients opt out of it is the procedure’s unpreventable side effect. When the plant is removed from the lungs, the patient’s feelings for the person causing their illness also vanish. The patient’s prior feelings for that person can never be restored through any means. Studies have shown that this loss of such an intense love can lead to permanent changes in the mental health and personality of patients, such as the development of psychiatric illnesses (depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder or schizophrenia); difficulties communicating with others; difficulties pursuing future relationships; tendencies towards isolating oneself, etc. Survivors of the surgery may also experience a state of mind similar to grief after losing a loved one--_

Having read enough, Naruto slammed the book shut. Wanting to get home as soon as possible, the ninja didn’t even bother exiting the front door, cracking open a window and bounding down from the window sill instead. 

“Shit,” he muttered as soon as he was in the open air. 

_Don’t tell me you’re not going to have the surgery,_ said a deep voice inside his head. Naruto nearly lost his balance in midair. 

“What the hell, you bastard?! I didn’t know you could talk to me when I’m awake.” 

A growl from inside. Then, a grudging _I never wanted to until now._

Despite the situation, Naruto giggled a little. “Getting all friendly now that you want me to live so badly, right?” 

There was no answer. 

\--- 

Naruto managed to procrastinate on the question of _what the hell am I going to do_ for an admirable length of time before the Kyuubi stepped in again. Ten weeks, to be exact: the time until his next serious attack. He hadn’t been completely healthy in the time between making the discovery and now, but the couple bouts he had had were trivial coughing fits, identified only by their telling aftertaste of flowers, and the one or two times he had thrown up a couple petals after sparring with one of his team members. 

However, this attack was severe enough for the Kyuubi-- _Kurama_ , Naruto had learned his name was-- to intervene. 

_HEY,_ he growled, loud enough for Naruto to grimace and cover his ears despite knowing the sound was in his head, _you need to get this sorted out._

“I know, I know,” Naruto said as he wiped his lips. 

_You should get the surgery._

Naruto paused, looking uncharacteristically pensive. “I don’t… Can’t I just find the other cure?”

Kurama snorted, but there was something besides ridicule in his eyes. _It’s not going to happen, boy._

“Seriously?” Naruto exclaimed, putting on a melodramatic expression. “That hurts, Kurama. You think no one could like me? I even got you to like me, you old--”

 _Shut up,_ growled Kurama, resting his chin on his folded arms. _That’s not what I mean._

“So what is it, then?”

Kurama pretended not to listen. Watching his large form, something dawned on Naruto that he hadn’t considered before. 

“Wait a second. You… You know who it is, don’t you?” Not waiting for an answer, Naruto plunged ahead. “You know who is causing this. And you think I don’t have a chance with _them.”_

Kurama didn’t answer, but deigned to open his eyes. 

“Is it Sakura-chan?” Naruto guessed. 

The demon fox laughed again. 

“Really? Someone who’s even less likely to fall for me than she is? I don’t know, then. Who else do I know? It can’t be someone I only know a little bit, right? Who…” 

_Idiot._ Kurama interrupted his train of thought. _It’s obvious._

“What do you mean?” Naruto yelled. “Why can’t you just tell me?” 

_Because I don’t want you to know._

“What do you mean you don’t want me to know? If I know, I can find them and, I don’t know, get them to like me somehow, right?” 

Naruto’s words hung in the air. 

“You really think it would be _that_ hard?” he asked at last. 

_You can’t do it._

“As if that’s supposed to stop me. You know, Kurama, if you know me so well, you shouldn’t tell me I can’t do something. You know my story, right? You know that people told me I wouldn’t be able to enter the Academy. They told me I would never learn Clone Jutsu. They told me I would never make Genin. Then they told me I would never survive the Chūnin exams. And everyone still tells me I won’t be able to find Sasuke, let alone bring him back. But I will. I swore that I will, and I think about that promise every day so that it stays fresh in my mind, so it will never break. I’m Uzumaki Naruto, and I keep my word. _Especially_ when people tell me it’s impossible. So I’m bringing Sasuke back, and then I’ll… I’lll…”

Naruto suddenly trailed off, a strange expression crossing his face. 

“Kurama…” 

_So you’ve figured it out._

“How did you know?” 

_Fool. Do you remember last time you had an attack? Do you remember what happened before that?_

“Yeah, hang on, wait…” Naruto scratched his forehead. “Oh yeah! It was the day I went to Orochimaru’s hideout. And… And…” 

_He was there._

“Yeah,” Naruto whispered. 

_And what about today?_

“I…” 

_Your Shadow clone saw him in the forest. You were so sure you were going to find him. And then he wasn’t there. And now, twenty minutes later, you’re sick. And your vomit is half flower petals. Honestly, boy, I can’t believe how stupid you are sometimes._

Naruto took a minute to take the fox’ words in. When he lifted his head, there was a new sort of determination in his eyes. “This is because of Sasuke,” he breathed. “Of what… Of what I feel for him.” 

_It is._

Naruto took a minute to internalize this, but only a minute. 

“Then I have to try even harder to find him.” 

The demon fox didn’t snort this time, but his lips pulled back, giving his face an unfamiliar expression. _I knew you were going to say that. That’s why I didn’t want you to know._

“It’s not like knowing makes any difference. I mean, now that I’ve realized it, more things make sense, I guess. But some part of me has probably always known.” 

_Still,_ Kurama grunted. _Now I know I won’t be able to convince you to have the surgery._

Naruto’s eyes gleamed. “That’s for damn sure. I’m not giving Sasuke up in _any_ way. That would be going against my word.”

He looked into the distance, watching the horizon as the sun set over the trees.

“I’m going to find you, Sasuke. I’ll save you. And, Kurama… I’m going to save us, too.”

\---

Sasuke started awake. He sat bolt upright, as if a blast of Chidori had electrified his spine, and gasped for air. 

_A dream,_ he realized dimly. But it was too late: images from his nightmare were swirling around his head, sickening him and filling his mind with fear. His head spun and he only just managed to roll out of his bedroll and scramble into a sitting position before his insides heaved violently. 

It was over quickly, but Sasuke couldn't shake his sense of unease. He couldn't even remember what the dream had been about, but the damage was done. 

Knowing it was a bad idea, Sasuke couldn't help but dwell on the dream, trying to remember more details. Perhaps it was out of a misguided motivation to harden his resolve as an avenger; or it could merely be due to a masochistic streak. He wasn't sure nor did he particularly care. 

Focusing his thoughts inwards, the missing-nin realized with a frown that this dream hadn’t been about Itachi, which was strange. His brother had occupied every thought of his since their fateful battle five (six? seven?) days ago, and Madara’s subsequent reveal of the truth behind Itachi’s life. 

_And death,_ his mind supplied, prompting Sasuke to hiss and stand up properly, pacing to the edge of the clearing in which he was standing. 

Sasuke’s vision blurred as he stood up, but after a few seconds he was able to properly take in his surroundings. He was alone in the clearing, his bedroll partially sheltered under a tree. He could see another clearing some distance away, where he knew his Taka members were resting. For the nth time, Sasuke was grateful for his foresight in ordering the others to sleep apart from him. They had witnessed enough of his emotional weakness recently: it was best he distanced himself from them for a few days at least, especially when he was asleep, when he couldn’t control his outward reactions.

Looking up, Sasuke saw the moon in the night sky above him. As he watched, absent-mindedly wiping residual sweat from his brow, the moon came out from behind the clouds. A perfect beam of chill light sliced through the leaves of the trees above him, and lit up a space behind Sasuke. 

Turning back, Sasuke noticed something brightly colored on the forest floor, high in contrast against the hues of blue and green surrounding him. It was something small and yellow, though it appeared almost pale gold in the bright moonlight. 

Sasuke took a step forward and bent down to examine it, grimacing when he noticed it was lying in the pool of his vomit. 

It was a long yellow flower petal. 

_A sunflower,_ Sasuke recognized dimly. _I must have coughed it up._

Some part of his mind registered a connection here, relating this incident to some fact or story he must have heard long ago. His subconscious grasped at the memory, trying to tell him something, trying to warn him. 

_My family._ The memory was about them, and it was trying to force its way in, pushing through the cracks in the mental wall Sasuke tried to keep himself behind at all times. 

_I don’t want to think about them,_ he thought weakly, but the barrier was weakened after his previous dream and the tiredness persisting within him. 

The coughing. The flower. The aching void inside of him. The moonlight. 

His mother had told him something a long time ago-- No, she hadn’t told him. Sasuke had overhead it; it had been something he, as the youngest member of the family, wasn’t supposed to know, but had happened to hear anyway. 

_Hanahaki._

Sudden panic filled Sasuke, and he suddenly felt a strong urge to plunge his fingers into his eye sockets and rip out the Sharingan eyes resting within, those cursed eyes which allowed him to see memories so much clearer than he would ever want to.

He could see his mother Mikoto’s face, visible from a door that was cracked open the slightest bit. He couldn’t see who she was talking to, but whoever it was was crying. 

“ _It’s more common among the Uchiha,_ ” his mother whispered. “ _Especially those gifted with a powerful Sharingan_.” 

“ _Why?”_ sobbed the other voice. 

_“It’s a disease caused by intense devotion, love, and grief,_ ” she replied, stretching out an arm to comfort the other person in the room. _“For better or for worse, the Uchiha feel these emotions particularly strongly.”_

Grunting, Sasuke pulled himself back to the present. He stared back down at the petal in front of him. A myriad of emotions flitted through his dark eyes, finally settling on an expression of dark fury. He snarled, reached aside and raised his katana in the air in a single motion. Then he plunged it straight down, perfectly impaling the single yellow petal. The sword was driven deep into the soft earth, and Sasuke’s Sharingan flared up uncalled for. Red colored his vision and the petal in front of him appeared to wither before drowning in a river of blood. 

\--- 

“We’re going to the Five Kage Summit,” Sasuke announced, throwing his rucksack onto the inn’s table. 

“The Summit?” Suigetsu half-yelled, earning a well earned curse from Karin. 

“Danzo is there,” Sasuke clarified. “This is where Taka’s first strike will fall.” 

His three teammates nodded in unison, though various degrees of uncertainty clouded their expressions. Sasuke ignored them as he slung the rucksack onto his back, threw a few coins down on the table, and strode out of the inn. Team Taka followed, after exchanging a few glances. 

“Why does the Summit have to be in the Land of Iron?” Suigetsu complained loudly after a few hours on the road. “I’m going to become an ice cube at this rate.” 

The temperature had indeed decreased dramatically, as the climate and landscape had morphed from cool sunshine and green trees to icy skies and harsh stone. Most of Team Taka were wearing some sort of winter gear in an attempt to warm themselves, but Sasuke seemed as if he didn’t mind the cold too much. 

Suigetsu called him out on it. “Sasuke, we’re freezing over here. I know you’re a hardass, but how can you act like you’re not cold?” 

“I’m not,” grunted Sasuke in reply. 

Suigetsu rolled his eyes. “What do you mean, you’re not?” 

Sasuke looked back, scowling, and at first it seemed like he wasn’t going to answer. Eventually, though, he relented. “It’s a bloodline trait.” 

“You mean your fire affinity?” Juugo spoke up. 

“Hn,” Sasuke affirmed. 

“Wow, Sasuke, that’s so cool,” Karin said, eyes shining with excitement as if she had completely forgotten about the freezing wind in the air. 

Sasuke didn’t reply. 

Presently, he began to cough. 

Suigetsu giggled. “Still not cold, O Great Uchiha of the Fiery Bloodline?” he mocked. 

“Shut _up,”_ Karin replied, aiming a loose punch towards him as she hurried over to Sasuke, whose coughs were becoming more violent. 

Sasuke’s whole body was shaking, and he pressed a hand in front of his mouth. Something came up, and he glared down at his palm. 

“Sasuke, are you…” Karin’s voice trailed off as she saw what he was looking at. 

Exchanging glances, Suigetsu and Juugo also hurried forward. 

Juugo gasped when he saw it. “Is that…” he asked, while Suigetsu only managed to whisper “ _Shit”._

There were two sunflower petals in Sasuke’s palm, wet with spit. 

“It’s nothing,” Sasuke stated, voice as cold as the surrounding air.

“Sasuke…” Karin breathed. “This is serious.” 

“I know,” he replied. 

“You know what this is?”

“Hn.” 

“Then are you going to…”

Sasuke shut her up with a look. “I have made my decision.” 

“Wait, what are you going to do?” asked Suigetsu. 

Sasuke ignored him once again. 

“Let’s go,” he said. His hand tightened on the hilt of his katana and he opened the palm of his other hand, letting the wind take the petals far away. 

“ _Sasuke!”_ Karin half gasped, half screamed. 

But the Uchiha kept walking through the snow, footsteps never faltering. Once again, all team Taka could do was follow in silence. 

\--

The Taka members all tried to coax Sasuke into talking about his affliction, in their own ways. Karin tried and failed to be subtle; her words dripped with exaggerated kindness, her movements temporarily driven by thought rather than hardened Kunoichi instincts. Indeed, her distraction was so obvious that Sasuke almost forgot what her goal was in the first place, though he was hardly close to letting his guard down. Suigetsu was blunt as always, asking questions that were easy enough to ignore; when he really wouldn’t be quiet, he was easy to frighten off with the threat of a sparking finger or a glimmer of the Sharingan. Juugo’s method was the most irritating to deal with: he would just _sit,_ making _small talk,_ almost as if he believed he could get Sasuke to spill his guts (in the metaphorical sense, rather than puking more flowers) by luring him into a false sense of security. But even his advances were no match for Sasuke’s stubborn determination to keep everything to himself. 

However much Sasuke tried to hide his feelings, he couldn’t hide the physical aspect of his illness. In the few days it took to travel to the Land of Iron, the Uchiha’s health visibly deteriorated.

One night, when the team was huddled around a small campfire, Sasuke began to cough again. The three remaining team members all shared looks: this was the second time in less than a day. Usually, the Taka leader would have moved away, made some pretense of strength and stoicism, but this time he didn’t even bother to move. He just sat there, coughing, until he turned his head and spat a lump of _something_ into the bushes behind them. 

When he turned back towards the fire, there was blood on his lips and a thin trail of it down his chin. 

“You know, Sasuke,” said Juugo in his steady voice-- the man really did possess a remarkable amount of patience, when bloodlust wasn’t taking over-- “You’ll have to be careful when you fight a dangerous man such as Danzo in this state.” 

Sasuke shot him an icy glare, but Juugo didn’t flinch. 

“Wouldn’t it be best to solve this issue now, and fight Danzo at full strength?” 

Sasuke didn’t respond, but Karin piped up after a few minutes. “Sasuke,” her voice quivered, “This is getting worse every day.” 

Finally, the Uchiha spoke. “I’m fine,” he grunted. 

“There’s blood on your mouth,” Suigetsu said casually. 

Sasuke raised a gloved hand and wiped his chin, then stared at his hand with an unreadable expression. 

“It only gets worse from here,” Karin said quietly, for once deathly serious. “You have to be cured, soon, or you won’t live much longer. Don’t you have a goal to fulfill? The goal Taka was formed to achieve?” 

The team fell silent for a long moment. The only sound was the soft crackling of the fire. 

“Whether I live or die is of no importance,” Sasuke finally said. 

Karin gasped. Suigetsu looked dismayed. Juugo’s eyes just flooded with sympathy and _understanding._

“I will kill Danzo,” he presently continued, “And whoever else I can in the time I have left. I will be remembered, briefly, then I will be forgotten along with the rest of the Uchiha.”

“But _why--”_ Karin tried to ask. Her voice shook. 

“Who is doing this to you?” Suigetsu suddenly asked. “I’ll go pay whoever it is a visit, and I’ll--” 

“It doesn’t matter,” replied Sasuke. Something flashed in his eyes, implying quite the opposite. 

“If you won’t have the surgery, then it must matter,” Juugo said. 

Sasuke scoffed, a hollow sound which caused something to rattle in his lungs. “My choice has nothing to do with anyone except for myself.”

Suigetsu almost looked awed. “I can’t believe _you_ are in lo--” 

He groaned in pain as both Juugo and Karin had managed to plant their elbows into his stomach. 

Sasuke glared. “My feelings are irrelevant. This person has never had any influence over me, not in the past and certainly not now.” 

“So you _do_ know who it is,” Suigetsu said, this time managing to dodge the blows from his team mates. 

“Obviously,” said Sasuke. “But it makes no difference. _This,” --_ he stretched his bloody hand forward-- “Is merely another effect of the Uchiha blood flowing through my veins.” 

“So you’re just going to give up because of some idiotic idea that this is part of your duty to your clan?” Karin yelled. Her cry was full of grief and outrage. “Why would you do that? After all you’ve accomplished, after all you’ve been through, you’re going to let this happen to yourself?” 

Sasuke leveled a gaze at her, and she found herself looking into twin pits of bottomless emotion, more than she could ever name or comprehend. “I have chosen this end,” he said lowly. “It is befitting for the last Uchiha, and I have accepted it. But,” --and here his voice and eyes hardened with dark determination-- “I still have time left. I do not intend to waste it. All of you would do well to remember that.”

And suddenly he had turned around, kneeling swiftly and pulling his bedroll from his knapsack. “Rest now. We will reach the Summit tomorrow afternoon.” 

Suigetsu looked as if he still had something to say, and Karin’s eyes had filled with tears. Only Juugo seemed to have accepted Sasuke’s words in some way, though a certain sadness had filled his expression as he watched their team leader prepare for the night. 

Just like so many times in the past, there was nothing Sasuke’s team members could do. Once he had decided on a path for himself, nobody could ever stop Sasuke Uchiha. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! This is my first published SNS fic. This ship has recently become one of my all-time favorites, and I decided I wanted to write a hanahaki AU fic for them (as if canon didn't already have enough angst lmao). I posted the first chapter for NS day 2020, but I hope to have part two (complete with a happy ending, I promise!) out soon. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this little fic! Please feel free to comment your thoughts, or come yell at me on twitter @sasugayuchlha :)


	2. You Are My Sun, and Every Season I Need You To Come Back

Ever since Sasuke left, Naruto had felt a certain way. Well, really a certain two ways. 

The first was desperation. Sometimes the memories of Sasuke and the emotions accompanying them were so strong that they kindled Naruto’s veins with adrenaline. Everything he said and did would feel tainted by the missing Uchiha in some way, and completely unrelated thoughts would always come back to him somehow. This is when Naruto would go out and train for hours in a row, obsessively measuring his strength and skill and wondering whether it was enough to take Sasuke down. He’d crack his knuckles and imagine sinking his fist into the other shinobi’s stomach, then hitting his pale jawline with an uppercut, and finally seeing blood drip from his mouth as he fell to his knees. Naruto would imagine the look in Sasuke’s eyes when he yielded, acknowledging Naruto at last and agreeing to return to Konoha with him. Sometimes when this energy completely consumed him, Naruto would relish the thought of defeat in Sasuke’s eyes, the purple bruises on his cheekbones, the blood on his broken nails. A defeated Sasuke meant one who would come home, one who finally understood what Naruto felt for him. And as his thoughts reached this intensity, Naruto would fill whatever blow he was delivering with pain and love and ferocity and his target would fall every time. 

The other side of missing Sasuke was almost the inverse of that all-consuming energy: it was emptiness. Sometimes the burning sensation would drain away, and then Naruto would be left with _nothing._ Because that fire ignited by Sasuke’s absence powered so much: his motivation, his power, his friendships, his dream of becoming Hokage. So when the flames were doused, Naruto’s fervor was suspended. He would spend days laying in bed, wondering where Sasuke was and blaming himself for ever letting his friend go. If he tried to get up at this time, he’d gasp as sudden pain filled him, like a knife stuck between his ribs deep into his heart; a symptom which had been there since long before the Hanahaki disease had taken hold. 

The switch between these two modes was messy and painful and usually robbed Naruto of his breathing and stability, leaving him gasping and sometimes tearful on the ground. 

Everyone around Naruto knew of his first mode, the fiery energy. It suited his personality so well, after all: this behaviour seemed a natural development on top of all the seemingly impossible dreams he had been shouting about since he was a young boy causing trouble in Konoha streets. 

Fewer people knew about his second mode, and only the members of Team 7 knew about the panic attacks. 

But no one knew about the Hanahaki except for Naruto and his demons-- the literal and the figurative. 

Kurama eventually stopped trying to convince Naruto to get the surgery or tell anyone of his condition, recognizing the futility of it all as Naruto continued to suffer in silence. If anything, he seemed to actively be helping the cause of finding Sasuke now, offering any thoughts or theories he had on the situation, albeit in a grudging tone of voice which never seemed to fade no matter how close he became to Naruto.

The truth was that Kurama was very worried about his Jinchūriki. As they shared a body, the Kyuubi was aware of much of what Naruto thought and felt, and this connection only strengthened as they bonded on a more personal level. Kurama couldn’t say he understood everything-- the human experience was different from his, after all-- but pain is a universal language and pain was plainly etched into Naruto’s soul, marking him in a way as easily readable as the seal on Kurama’s gate. 

Besides, although the constant flow of chakra that Kurama was sending through the boy’s network was successfully slowing the growth of the plant and thus prolonging his life by a considerable amount, the Kyuubi knew it wouldn’t be enough in the future. All he could do was hope Naruto lived long enough to confront Sasuke and…

And _what?_

Kurama couldn’t say he had much faith in Naruto’s unspoken hopes concerning Sasuke and his’ future. The demon fox was surely biased, seeing as he was currently living inside Naruto’s mind rather than anyone else’s, but he couldn’t help but believe that his current Jinchūriki felt much more keenly than those he had been sealed inside previously. The love he felt was in itself powerful, only perhaps comparable to what Kushina had felt for her family, but it was amplified to innumerable heights by the pain which walked hand in hand with that love. Naruto’s pain: an impossible cocktail of anger and concern, grief and healing, loneliness and comfort, fear and hope, so potent that Kurama actually found himself surprised that Naruto didn’t drop dead on the spot from the intensity of it all, Hanahaki disease or not. 

One night, Naruto returned home from a mission. It was late and the sky was clouded over rendering it pitch black outside. The young shinobi collapsed against his front door as he slammed it shut, reaching half-heartedly towards the lightswitch and then pulling his shoes off. He ran a hand through his hair, wet from the downpour which had started on his way home. 

“I’m home,” he whispered quietly, in between his ragged breaths. The weak sound barely left his lips before seeming to dissipate in the stale air of his apartment. 

Mechanically stumbling forward, Naruto continued to turn on the lights around the house: the kitchen, the hallway, his bedroom. His bedroom light caught on a reflective surface across the room from him, catching even his tired eyes. 

Something impossibly heavy lurched inside him as Naruto saw what it was. Something which should never have been touched was disturbed, and a ripple shooting through every nerve in his body almost had him falling to his knees. 

It was a small photograph, half-hidden behind old cups of instant ramen and a sock or two he had neglected to put away, and badly visible due to the glare hitting it from an angle. 

But this was a photo Naruto could visualize perfectly, even without physically seeing it. 

_Sakura, bright and youthful, eyes shining with hope and happiness. Kakashi, the gentle curves of his eyes betraying the smile beneath his mask; his arms circling the edges of the photo as if to protect his genin; his hands resting on two small heads belonging to Naruto and… Sasuke._

_Naruto and Sasuke._

_Naruto, not remotely bothering to mask his glare, arms crossed and eyes focused solely on Sasuke._

_Sasuke, a haughty frown marring his expression, purposely looking in the opposite direction from Naruto._

It was hard not to see the parallels between the photograph and the situation today. It was hard not to look back and see what had been wrong from the very beginning. It was hard not to regret, it was hard not to grieve. 

And so Naruto did. 

He crumpled suddenly, knees hitting the floor hard and hands bracing his torso as a wave of petals forced their way up his windpipe. They spilled onto the floor, and tears pricked at the corners of Naruto’s eyes as he coughed again and this time brought up a whole flower-- a flower tinged in blood. 

It was over quickly, but Naruto couldn’t find the strength to stand up. He stayed where he was, every inch of him trembling. 

_You can’t do this anymore,_ came a voice from inside of him. Naruto was too far gone to realize whether Kurama was talking to him or whether it was just his own subconscious. 

“I’ll just… find… Sasuke…” Naruto panted. 

_Sasuke doesn’t love you._

Tears slid down Naruto’s cheeks, hitting the hardwood floor like the raindrops on the windowsill. 

_If he did, you wouldn’t be dying._

Naruto stared at the pile of flower petals, and at the single blossom smeared with his blood. 

“I don’t care,” he sobbed. “I don’t care.” 

He pulled himself into a sitting position, scrubbing at his face even as more tears fell. “I’m gonna get Sasuke back, whether he loves me or not.” 

\--- 

Sasuke’s breath rattled in his throat as Itachi-- _alive, no, dead, I don’t understand--_ stared at him with hollow, unblinking eyes. 

“You’re sick.” 

“So _what,”_ Sasuke spat, “You never paid attention to me when you were alive, what the hell does it matter now if--” 

Even in death Itachi was capable of shutting him up with just a look. “Tell me what it is. Your cough sounds worse than mine was.” 

“Hanahaki,” Sasuke admitted, a sort of sickening satisfaction in his eyes as blood trickled from his mouth. A terminal illness was one thing in his life Itachi had no control over. 

“Sasuke…” Itachi said his name softly, voice monotone yet filled with regret. “The longer I stay here, the worse the consequences of my actions in life seem to be.” 

He locked his literal dead eyes with Sasuke’s figurative ones. “It’s Naruto, isn’t it.”

It wasn’t a question. Sasuke’s face betrayed nothing, but something inside him shifted and he could taste sunflowers in his saliva. “It is.” 

Itachi threw him a sharp look, before muttering: “How could that be?” 

“He’s the one who always tells me I’m his _friend,”_ Sasuke said coldly. “Decide for yourself.” He spat out another mouthful of blood and petals, then wiped his mouth on the back of his hand.

“Little brother,” Itachi spoke, with a gentleness Sasuke hated _so_ much. “You’re the last of the Uchiha. You can’t just--” 

Sasuke turned away, sheathing his sword. “Anything else is impossible.” 

“The Uchiha clan has a history of Hanahaki disease.” 

“So?”

“Not every case has ended in tragedy. Don’t resign yourself to dying” --Itachi’s voice was low and serious-- “Not like I did.” 

Sasuke scoffed. “Don’t try to give me hope now. I haven’t allowed myself to hope since... “ 

“I know.” Itachi smiled sadly. “I’m sorry.” 

“It wasn’t your fault,” Sasuke replied, still looking away. 

Itachi walked over to stand by his younger brother’s shoulder. “Perhaps not all of it. But I made many choices, and not all of them were right. I am at least partially to blame for where you now stand.”

“Everything I do is by my own will.” 

“Even dying, little brother?” 

Sasuke didn’t reply. He watched the sun set, coloring the treetops in the valley below orange.

“You don’t owe me anything, Sasuke,” Itachi presently began. 

The younger Uchiha’s head tilted slightly, as if to argue, but Itachi silenced him. 

“You never have. But can you make me one last promise?”

Sasuke’s face tightened, and his Sharingan whirred to life, preserving the moment in his memory forever.

“Promise me you’ll talk to Naruto before it’s too late.” 

For once, Sasuke didn’t frown or scoff. He simply gave a curt nod, deactivating his Sharingan once more. 

\--- 

Naruto fought to save his friends, his home and his world. He fought because no one else would. He fought because as cruel as the world could always be, Madara and his plan seemed much crueler. 

He was on autopilot most of the time, his body battle-hardened and instincts working to protect him. Kurama helped him a lot, and lended him chakra even as he depleted his own. 

Somewhere in the midst of the war, Sasuke appeared; right at the eye of the storm, as he so often had in the past. He returned with a scoff, a smirk, and above all a promise to Naruto, an unspoken truth that _this is far from over._ Naruto was honestly too caught up in dodging meteorites thrown by the Jūbi and avoiding the cursed glare of the scarlet Sharingan moon overhead to have a breakdown, and if a few petals escaped his lungs here and there he was sure nobody noticed in between everything else going on. 

Fighting by Sasuke’s side was so easy, so natural, that Naruto almost forgot he had ever lost him at all. 

Then he died for a few minutes, got a visit by Old Man Six Paths, and learned that _apparently,_ the connection between him and Sasuke wasn’t just a figment of his imagination. 

Naruto was laughing when he came back to consciousness, because the irony of Sasuke turning out to be his soulmate in every sense of the word _except_ for in the way which was killing him was just too much. A few too many petals came up this time to be easily explained away, and Naruto wasn’t sure Sakura bought it when he brushed it off as a weird side effect-- _yeah, Sakura-chan, I had this crazy encounter with Old Man Six Paths and he like put a weird flower jutsu on me--_ but there wasn’t enough time for her to prod him further anyway so Naruto just waved her off with a tight smile as he ran off to beat up yet another omnipotent being. 

When it was all over, Sasuke didn’t spare a moment. 

“I guess I’ll have to deal with you first, Naruto.” 

He turned, already walking away. 

“Let’s move this elsewhere. You know where, don’t you?” 

Of course Naruto did. The final valley was a place which had occupied his dreams in recent years, both asleep and awake. A place of regret, a place of sadness, a place with rocks and rivers so old that they were surely filled with the memories of many generations, which all seemed utterly insignificant next to the visceral emotion and pain Naruto associated with that place. 

This time, Naruto didn’t fight to save the world. He didn’t fight to protect an army. He didn’t fight to end his opponent’s life. 

He only fought to save Sasuke. 

He was going to die anyway, but he couldn’t yet. Not until he had done his best to save Sasuke from the loneliness and hatred he was trying so hard to immerse himself in. 

Naruto loved him. And so Naruto fought him and fought him and fought him. Every step he took, every punch he threw, every effort he put in was a measure of what he would do to keep Sasuke from being alone. Kurama’s power electrifying his veins staved off the coughing fits enough, even though nothing could stop the feeling of thin tendrils lining his windpipe or the way the leaves in his lungs shivered with every gasp for air. 

And so many hours later, when the sun was cresting the treetops and the statues of Hashirama and Madara were half-destroyed and neither Naruto or Sasuke could put one foot in front of the other let alone throw a decent punch; when Naruto was spitting up his nth mouthful of bloody flowers, he finally caught a glimpse of Sasuke, the boy he loved, underneath the storm he became while fighting. 

Sasuke had been reduced to much the same state as Naruto: face puffed and bruised almost beyond recognition, covered in blood belonging to both of them in equal measures, wild eyes, a body purely driven by emotion and willpower rather than any physical energy. 

And as Naruto straightened up, he watched as Sasuke wiped his bloody mouth with an already soaked through sleeve then proceeded to double over, wheezing. 

Something brightly colored was expelled from Sasuke’s mouth, and landed lightly on the ground. 

Naruto could barely see past the swelling around his eyes, and his senses were almost completely numb after hours upon hours of being beaten into the ground. But the feeling of recognition which passed through him was so intense that for a second he wondered whether Sasuke had managed to pull another Kirin from somewhere and smite him down. 

But after the feeling passed he was still standing, and the ground by Sasuke’s feet was still covered in yellow flower petals.

“Sasuke,” he croaked. 

The look his rival sent towards him somehow felt more deadly than any other attack he had endured so far. 

“ _What,”_ he hissed, thin voice lacking the usual venom he possessed. 

“Sasuke, you’re…” Naruto tried to point to the flowers but lost his balance, stumbling forward.

“It means… It means nothing... “ Sasuke gasped, still trying to lie as if the truth wasn’t littered at their feet. 

“No, Sasuke, you don’t…” 

“Don’t you dare tell me I don’t _understand,_ Naruto _.”_

Naruto smiled, a painful and ghastly expression of broken teeth and bruised lips. Even here, at the end of it all, they weren’t able to easily understand each other. _At least we will soon,_ thought Naruto dimly. _We don’t have long now._

Finding Sasuke looking at him strangely, Naruto realized he had said those words out loud. 

“What do you mean, _we_ don’t have long now?” He asked sharply. 

“I mean… Me too, Sasuke. I also-- Look.” He coughed softly, windpipe scraping in protest. Five white petals landed in his outstretched hand. 

Sasuke fell to his knees. 

“Naruto, you…” 

He frowned. 

“But how…? We both--” 

“Sas’ke, it doesn’t matter anymore,” murmured Naruto. He fell to his knees now too, only a few inches from his best friend, his rival, his _love._ “It’s too late for both of us now.”

Sasuke’s gaze was flickering between the moonflowers in Naruto’s hand and the blonde’s face. “I don’t understand,” he said, sounding almost desperate. “You… for me?” 

Naruto smiled gently, taking in Sasuke’s features once more before it was time to go. “Of course, Sasuke. I always… I always would have, for you.”

Something in Sasuke’s dark eyes broke, and tears welled up visibly. “But how-- How can you feel as strongly as I do?” he croaked, voice so wrecked he couldn’t even make it sound like a question. 

“Sasuke… It’s already okay…” Naruto tried to calm him down. For once, he didn’t want to get up anymore. 

Tears escaped Sasuke’s eyes, mixing with the blood and sweat on his face. “What flows through me.. It’s so strong. It’s part of me, always has been, even before the-- this--” 

He gestured between them, at the mixture of yellow and white petals. Sunflowers and moonflowers, drenched in their blood. 

“And it hurts,” he gasped. “It hurts _so_ much, Naruto, all the time, my heart, it--” He clutched at his chest, screwing his eyes shut as tears continued to fall. 

Naruto felt a pang in his chest, sharper and more acute then the bruises covering his body or the damage in his overgrown lungs, pain answering to that which was so evident in Sasuke. 

“I feel the same,” he whispered. “The same pain, and the same love.” 

He half lay, half fell onto his side. Sasuke followed, and then they were staring into each other’s eyes, faces mere inches apart. 

“Naruto, if I had known… If I hadn’t been so blind…” 

“It’s not so bad. I told you before… We can understand each other in the next life.” Naruto’s words were slurred, beginning to slow.

“This is my fault. I’m _so_ sorry.” 

“You don’t need to apologize to me, Sasuke. I always would have done this for you.” 

Sasuke was silent for a moment. Naruto just looked into his eyes. 

“Why?” his voice was cracked and broken. 

“Because,” Naruto smiled one last time. “Because I love you.” 

And so Naruto and Sasuke lay as the sun rose, bodies broken but hearts beginning to heal. 

The river continued to flow, the birds woke up and sang, clouds passed over the Final Valley just as they always had, as if nothing had happened. 

Even as two lovers lay dying. 

Presently, all of this was interrupted by two figures rushing through the forest nearby. 

“Kakashi-sensei!” cried Sakura. “Naruto and Sasuke…” 

She pointed a shaking finger into the valley below. 

A foreboding expression crossed Kakashi’s face, which Sakura noticed immediately.

“Sensei,” she hesitated. “You don’t think…” 

Kakashi looked at her sadly, with the eyes of someone looking into the past and equating it to the present. “You better go down and look, Sakura,” he said quietly. 

Sakura nodded, doing her best to put on her medic-nin demeanour. She expertly maneuvered down the cliff, landing on the riverbed and then moving swiftly to where Naruto and Sasuke lay. 

“Oh,” she gasped, taking in her fallen teammate’s ashen faces and bloodied clothing. “ _Oh,”_ when she noticed the bloody flowers surrounding their bodies, arranged in such a way that the scene resembled a funeral.

Tears pricked in Sakura’s eyes as she recalled Naruto’s coughs when she had resuscitated him not even so many hours earlier, and the petals which had fluttered through the air at that time. 

“You two are so _stupid,”_ she said as she stretched both of her arms forward, reaching the boy’s bodies with healing chakra. Her voice cracked with grief, anger and, above all else, love. 

Focusing hard, she used her chakra to search for any signs of life. Her glowing eyes flew open as she felt first Sasuke’s chakra, then Naruto’s; both weak yet unquestionably alive. 

Heart thundering, she searched deeper within them for injuries to heal. To her astonishment, the flowering plants inside them had already begun to wilt, retracting their vines and freeing their lungs. 

“You two really…” she breathed. Fresh tears ran down her cheeks. “You are both so, _so_ stupid.” 

In addition to healing their most urgent external wounds, Sakura focused much of her chakra on their respiratory organs, which, although in a better state than previously, had suffered extensive damage. 

Finally, after about half an hour of ministrations, Sasuke and Naruto began to stir. Their faces were still pale and Sakura knew they must be in considerable pain, but they were breathing more deeply and Sakura suddenly felt a huge burden lift off her shoulders. 

“They’ll live, Kakashi-sensei,” she called up softly. 

Team 7’s leader had been silently positioned at the top of the cliff the entire time, never breaking Sakura’s concentration. Hearing her words caused him to visibly relax as well, and he smiled to himself. 

“Sasuke and Naruto,” he murmured, shaking his head. “You two always did things differently from everyone else, after all.” 

Naruto opened his eyes first. The first thing he did was whip his head to his right where Sasuke lay, so fast he nearly broke his bones all over again. 

When he saw Sasuke, still motionless, he looked up at Sakura with panic in his eyes. 

_Sasuke,_ he tried to say, but his throat was tender and raw now that the plant inside him was gone and all that came out was “Sa--” before he winced in pain. 

Sakura smiled down at him, continuing to channel her chakra into both of them. “He’ll be okay,” she said. “Don’t worry.” 

Some of the panic faded from Naruto’s expression, but his movements were still agitated and his eyes kept darting between his two teammates. 

“Sakura,” he whispered. The medic-nin winced; she could tell how badly Naruto was straining his vocal cords. 

She started when Naruto reached up weakly and attempted to push her arm, which was resting on his chest as her palm continued to glow with healing chakra, away from himself. Then his mouth began to move, and she had to lean down to hear what he was trying to say. 

“Don’t--- me,” he whispered. “Sas’ke… Hurt…” 

Despite his state, Sakura couldn’t help but roll her eyes before giving him a warm smile. “Naruto, you’re hurt too,” she said in a calming tone of voice. “I’m healing _both_ of you, okay? Sasuke will be fine, just like you.”

Her teammate finally relinquished and stopped trying to push her away. His eyes stayed open, however, trained on Sasuke’s face. 

After a few moments, as the sun climbed higher above the treetops, Sasuke woke up too. At first he only looked up at the sky, mismatched black and purple eyes shining in the morning light. Then he blinked a few times, until suddenly his gaze fell on Sakura. He stiffened when he saw her, then looked to his left much the same way Naruto had looked earlier.

Sakura’s focus was trained on Sasuke as he awoke, and she watched with wonder as the sight of Naruto caused all fear to bleed out of his face. She had rarely seen Sasuke that expressive, and witnessing firsthand what an effect their blond teammate had on him really hit home what she had learned from the sight of the flowers earlier. 

“This whole time,” she murmured, lost in thought. When she looked back down, she found both Naruto and Sasuke’s eyes trained on her, the same question in each of their expressions. 

“Nothing,” she smiled softly. “I’m just glad you two are back.” 

Watching from a short distance away, Kakashi shared much of the same sentiment. 

\--- 

Naruto managed to lie awake in his hospital bed for about forty-five minutes before softly stealing out of his room to find Sasuke. 

As it turned out, they had placed his best friend in the room next to his own, although Naruto realized he would have been able to sense Sasuke’s chakra signature from across the village if he had to. 

Sasuke didn’t look at all surprised when Naruto opened his door and slipped inside. He was sitting upright in his bed, back against the wall and arms stretched out on the blanket in front of him. He didn’t say anything, just stared with his dark eyes. 

“Hi,” said Naruto. 

Silence.

Then Sasuke smirked. “That’s all you can come up with, usuratonkachi?” 

The use of the old nickname sent Naruto’s heart soaring, and he couldn’t help but hurry to Sasuke’s bedside despite the pain in his limbs. 

Once he got to the edge of the bed he hesitated, but the dark-haired boy moved over, leaving an obvious space for him to sit. 

“I was looking at this,” Sasuke said softly. Naruto blinked up at him, then followed Sasuke’s line of sight. He was staring at his own left palm, which now had a dark crescent moon marking the center. 

Wordlessly, Naruto extended his right arm. His mark was bright white, a circle representing the sun. 

“They’re beautiful,” he said before he could stop himself. 

Sasuke huffed a laugh. “You think so? I was just thinking about how ironic they are.” 

Naruto frowned. “What do you mean?”

The Uchiha continued to stare at their hands. “Your… Your flowers…” he began, sounding unsure of what to say. 

Naruto understood anyway. “ _Moonflowers,”_ he breathed, eyes huge. “Sasuke, yours were…?” 

Sasuke finally turned to look at him. “Mine were sunflowers.” 

Naruto did laugh a little now, shaking his head. “This whole time, huh?” 

He was cut off by Sasuke’s voice, quiet and deep and suddenly deadly serious. 

“Naruto.” 

Hearing Sasuke say his name in this tone of voice sent shivers up and down his spine. Slowly, Naruto looked up and met his eyes. 

Sasuke gave him a look, long and hard. Naruto couldn’t do anything but continue to breathe under his scrutiny. 

It happened so fast. One moment, Naruto was watching Sasuke’s expression and trying to read it. The next, Sasuke was _so close_ to him and their lips were gently pressed together. 

By the time Naruto had registered what was happening, at least ten seconds later, Sasuke had already pulled back and was watching him with an uncharacteristic expression: a mix of apprehension, guardedness, affection and… was that _embarrassment?_

He looked as if he was going to say something, but Naruto didn’t let him. He leaned forward quickly, laying one hand on Sasuke’s thigh and one on the bed beside him, and kissed him hard. 

Sasuke soon reciprocated his movements, deepening the kiss. He pulled Naruto closer with his right hand, so the blond could rest partially on his thighs. He laced his other hand together with Naruto’s so the marks on their palms were touching. 

They had kissed before, but this was nothing like that time. Back then, it had been all confusion: clacking teeth, unwelcome tongues and faces red-hot with shame. This was gentle, loving, _beautiful._ Naruto could feel the soreness leaving his body and the fog lift from his mind as his heart warmed from the inside out. He could feel Sasuke’s love, something he had not so long ago assumed he’d never have. In answer, Naruto poured his own heart out, not only into the kiss but also into the chakra connection between them. 

He knew Sasuke had gotten the message when the latter gasped softly against his lips and then pulled back ever so slightly, breaths puffing between them. 

Sasuke looked at him, his usual mask abandoned and completely fallen away from his face. Emotion was written in every curve and line of his soft lips and dark brow. A crease appeared on his forehead, and he reached the hand which had been steadying Naruto up to the blonde’s face. 

Naruto hadn’t realized he was crying softly until Sasuke gently wiped a tear away with his thumb. 

“You love me,” he said with the type of awe and reverence his voice never carried. 

“I love you,” Naruto confirmed, tears rolling down his cheeks freely. “I love you, Sasuke.” 

“I love you too,” Sasuke said then, and he was smiling softly.

They kissed again, slowly taking in the tastes and sensations they hadn’t dared dream about during all those years apart. 

They fell asleep together that night, exhausted despite the emotions flowing through them. Faint smiles adorned each of their faces, and they were positioned not unlike how they had lain in the final valley the night before. Yet there was a world of difference between the scenes. There was no blood, there were no petals, there were no signs of a great battle. There was no resignation, no heartbroken acceptance of death. There was only life, and love, and their two selves.

Naruto and Sasuke, the Sun and the Moon. When they spoke their love for the first time that night, there were none to witness except the stars under which they were so crossed. Just as the previous night, as the Fourth Great Shinobi War had ended, had been one for the entire world, this night was just for them. Everything else could wait to grow. Everything else could bloom later. 

FIN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! My first published SNS fic. I hope you enjoyed this-- I'd really appreciate a comment on the work or on my twitter @sasugayuchlha if you did! 
> 
> I love this pairing so so so much, and I'm planning to write many more fics for them in the future. I have several ideas and/or wips at the moment, but if there's a certain topic or trope you'd like to see me tackle feel free to reach out to me. 
> 
> Thank you for reading, and see you soon! 
> 
> \- Skadi


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